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Farming Today: Potato harvest safety; Rural housing; Food and Farming Awards

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20/09/2017

Potato harvest safety; Rural housing; Food and Farming Awards

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, Potato harvest safety; Rural housing; Food and Farming Awards

Anna Hill visits a potato farm during harvest time, as the safety inspectors arrive.

Harvest is a particularly dangerous time for potato farmers. Anna Hill visits a farm on the Norfolk coast as the safety inspectors arrive to check it's complying with regulations.

For potato farmers, harvest is one of the most dangerous times of the year. This week the Health and Safety Executive held its annual conference, and yet again agriculture was identified as one of the most dangerous jobs in the UK. Farming accounts for 1-2 % of Britain's workforce, but 20% of fatalities at work. Anna Hill visits a potato farm on the Norfolk coast, to watch the potato harvest in action and see how an HSE farm inspection is carried out.

New research from the Campaign to Protect Rural England says the government needs to distinguish between "demand" and "need" when it comes to building rural housing. It argues that the two are being conflated in government planning policies, with the result that more countryside is being built on, but with little effect for lower-income rural families. Meanwhile the Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable has spoken about rural housing in his speech at the party conference in Bournemouth.

We preview the three finalists in the Farming Today Future Foods category of the BBC Food and Farming Awards. The winner will be announced on Wednesday evening.

Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Emma Campbell.

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